Underrail - Dev Log #14, Taking From the Rich

Looking at the current release version, the biggest issue with the game currently mechanics-wise is that it gets increasingly easier once the player gets past the early stages. One of the main reasons for that, which I've already addressed in the previous dev logs, is the (over)power of grenades and other AoE attacks. The biggest issue, however, is the game's economy. Namely, that the player quickly gets rich from the insane amount of loot that he can acquire. This dev log focuses primarily on that, as well as on re-balancing some other abilities/items that I've found to be a bit too good.
The biggest change here is that I've reduced the amount of loot that is available through scavenging significantly. The biggest offenders were mid-late game dungeons (I didn't mess with the starting areas, they are fine) and also somewhat corners of urban areas that were way to easy to plunder with impunity. For the most part I haven't removed any stuff from the loot table, but have rather reduced the amount of items you get (ammo, weapons/armor and especially components) and significantly reduced the chance. So basically most places that you've looted before still have some chance of holding loot in future games (very few containers are fixed to be empty), but they won't give you large amounts of loot every time like they do now.
This, coupled with item durability cost penalty should make the game more challenging and force you to manage your resources more carefully as you should no longer have unlimited amounts of grenades, special blots/ammo, psi points, batteries, etc. When it comes the time to release the new version, I'll have to test this new economy carefully with a couple of playthroughs, though, to ensure that I haven't gone too far or not far enough. After that, I'll be very interested to hear from you guys as to what your experience was in this new economy.

Originally Posted by Roq
The site's home page needs a better description of the game. Looks like it may be a turn based squad game of some sort, but's that all I managed to glean from a few minutes exploration.

"Underrail is an old school turn-based isometric indie role playing game that focuses on exploration and combat. It's inspired by western RPG classics such as Fallout, Arcanum, Neverwinter Nights and System Shock 2."

Originally Posted by vurt
"Underrail is an old school turn-based isometric indie role playing game that focuses on exploration and combat. It's inspired by western RPG classics such as Fallout, Arcanum, Neverwinter Nights and System Shock 2."

took me approx. 2 seconds to find (first time i explore the site).

Got that, but it doesn't say a lot does it? So is it a turn based squad game of some sort? The video I saw on you tube didn't show more than a single character. Those games in the last sentence are all pretty different.

Hmm… I like the simple graphics and the clean UI looks great, but the game does look distinctly single character (unless no one has found a companion yet), which I think would rather restrict the strategic possibilities given turn based gameplay. The combat where you stand in one place and empty your pistol, doesn't look particularly inspiring or maybe that guy wasn't playing well…

Originally Posted by Roq
The combat where you stand in one place and empty your pistol, doesn't look particularly inspiring or maybe that guy wasn't playing well…

Game is far from being simple than like that.It requires smart positioning(Movement and action points are separate),smart use of active abilities and enviroment.Overall game has decent amount of challenge.And people at codex claim that stealth design is better than any other isometric RPG(I haven't played stealthy char yet so I can't confirm or deny that).Overall I found combat more enjoyable than Fallout 1/2 but Underrail overall lacks writing and world design compared to FO , not that underrail is badly designed(there are some "dungeons" that are done very well) just FO is better imo.